Point-of-purchase displays and signs have become extremely popular in all manner of retail trades. Such signs can be particularly effective marketing tools when properly designed and utilized.
An extremely large number of different types of such point-of-purchase displays exist. These displays vary from the active-type, such as rotating signs for eyeglasses and the like, to commonly known passive types of signs such as overhead display signs. In a well-recognized arrangement, the signs are positioned on the shelves on which the goods are stocked, or on the vertical standards that support the shelves. In this manner, the signs are used to direct consumers' attention to the particular goods or items that are on the shelves.
One effective way to direct consumers' attention to particular goods or items is to place the signs at the front of the shelves, on top of partition walls supporting the shelves or on the face of such partition walls. One known type of sign that is positioned near the goods to be displayed, is permanently affixed to the shelf front. While such a sign is effective at directing consumers' attention to particular items or products that are located on the shelf, because the sign is permanently affixed to the shelf, it can create difficulty in restocking the shelf. Additionally, permanently affixed signs can be easily damaged if due care is not exercised when restocking the shelves.
Another known type of sign system includes a mounting portion that is permanently affixed to, for example, a vertical shelf standard, and includes an arm that extends out from the mounting bracket and has a pivoting head at the end of the arm. The sign is mounted to the pivoting head to permit the sign to be moved out of the way during shelf restocking. One major drawback to this particular sign arrangement is that there are many small hardware items that are necessary for assembling the sign, and many of the hardware items must be removed in order to pivot the sign out of the way from its normal, display position to the restocking position to restock the shelf.
In many known shelving arrangements, the shelves extend from vertical supports posts having partition walls extending between and connecting the posts. The shelves rest on brackets or supports that extend from both sides of the face of the partition walls. Various different types of point-of-purchase display systems are known for these shelving systems. One particular kind of sign is mounted to the vertical supports or the face of the partition wall behind the shelves. Another known type of sign extends upwardly from the top of the partition walls at a height above the floor that provides increased visibility over greater distances.
While these sign systems can be effective in directing consumers' attention to a particular product or shelf location, such systems suffer from a variety of drawbacks. First, as with the shelf mounted signs discussed above, these sign systems are relatively inflexible in that they cannot be installed in more than one manner on a particular shelving system. In addition, because of the differences between such sign systems, the installation hardware for these systems typically varies from one system to the next and does not permit interchangeability. As will be recognized by users of such sign systems, these drawbacks can result in increased costs for maintaining a large quantity of different sign types and their respective mounting hardware, and can also result in not having on-hand the proper signage to, for example, advertise a sale or special item.
Accordingly, there is a need for a flexible sign mounting system that permits a sign to be mounted to commonly used shelving systems in a variety of configurations. Desirably, such a sign system permits a sign to be mounted to the front and/or horizontal surface of a shelf, as well as to the face of a partition wall backing for the shelf, and the top of such a partition wall. Most desirably, such a shelving system utilizes common components among the different types of installation arrangements, and permits the signs to be installed with minimal hardware and tools.